U.S. Pat. No. 5,747,088 (“the '088 patent”) discloses a process for producing a fruit product. In the '088 patent process, a rapid cyclical or pulsed vacuum extracts up to 98% of the juice from a fruit by “pumping” the juice out of the fruit. By pumping the juice out of the fruit, the maximize amount of juice can be extracted from the fruit. The “fruit” that remains after pumping is then infused with a solution of sugar and food acids. One process for infusing the fruit with a solution of sugar and food acids, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,785,071, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein, in its entirety, by reference, involves the use of a flowing stream of sugar solution. It is important to note that, in the '088 patent process, food acids must be “added back” during infusion in order to provide the fruit product with “a ‘fruity’ taste.”
U.S. Pat. No. 5,320,861 (“the '861 patent”), the disclosure of which is incorporated herein, in its entirety, by reference, also discloses a process for producing a fruit product. In the '861 patent process, a countercurrent process extracts up to 96% of the juice from the fruit. The “fruit” that remains is then infused, also using a countercurrent process, with a solution of sugar and fruit juice, the amount of fruit juice being either equal in concentration, or greater in concentration, to the amount of fruit juice remaining in the “fruit.” When the amount of fruit juice is equal in concentration, the small amount of juice remaining in the extracted fruit remains in the fruit. The fruit product, however, may lack a “fruity” taste. When the amount of fruit juice is greater in concentration, juice is “added back” to the fruit, thereby providing the fruit product with a “fruity” taste.
International Patent Application WO 98/03072, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein, in its entirety; by reference, further discloses a process for producing a fruit product. In this process, up to 80% of the juice from the fruit is extracted by “pressing” the juice out of the fruit. While the fruit product may have a “fruity” taste, pressing the fruit both damages the cells in the fruit and reduces the surface area of the fruit. Even if the fruit is “plumped up” (after pressing and prior to infusion) with juice, the fruit product is not well-defined because pressed fruit can never be returned to the plumpness of the fruit prior to pressing.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a method and apparatus for producing a fruit product that is well-defined and does not need to have juice “added back” to the fruit.